Nine year old black lab....will he try and eat the chickens?

[Roosterboy]

Thanks for the answers!

Let me restate that they would be in a predator-proof coop and run.

 

[CrazyPets16]

My Flat Coat does very well with my flock, just introduce them gradually.

 

[ChooksChick]

We have a 5 y/o giant (100#) Choclolate Lab who guards our chickens all day, unsupervised. Henry was firmly told to not touch, and then was shown over and over, as we raised the chicks, that they were a part of the 'pack.' We raised them in the house and spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him laying down next to the brooder (bathtub) seeing us handle them. It got to be quite boring for him.

Our 10# gremlin-dog, Daisy, was the same, but she never got over wanting to take care of the 'funny-shaped puppies' and still will get protective when we have chicks in the brooder- don't cross her and hurt one, or it's he__ to pay! She is the broody mom's wingman.

Looky:

 

[caralouise1974]

There are always some impressive exceptions, such as ChooksChicks gentle choc lab, but my opinion would be that no dog, old or young, large or small, can be 100% trusted to be left alone with flapping feathery creatures.

It is totally wired in to their blueprints to at least want to chase and play with these creatures, even if they don't actually want to kill and eat them. They can't fight against what nature has imprinted in them.

The stress of just a chase could be enough to make a hen slip an egg into her abdomen and subsequently die of peritonitis, so I would NEVER let a dog near poultry unless closely supervised, and would never even allow a 'play-chase' to start either, no matter how innocent the dog's intentions might seem to be. Hens don't need to deal with that stress.

 

[mominoz]

They can change. Someday I will scan and post the pics of my white lab, who as a puppy chewed our goose Max's neck very badly. I took him to a bird vet in Atlanta, who sewed him up and asked to take pics of the injury , because he wanted to write a book on bird care and it was a typical injury they saw in wild geese and other birds. So if you ever see a white tufted Roman looking bird in a vet book, it was our MAX.
Howevr they later became fast friends and would take walks and fly together, they even ran away from home together ,I found them walking down the road together.....it was so funny.

I think the goose adopted Dallas , because they were both white and the other geese were gone and he was lonely.....
I guess Max forgave Dallas......

 

[Roosterboy]

Quote:
Your dog can fly!

Cool stories...

And ChooksChicks: what type of chicken is that?

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
Your dog can fly!

Cool stories...

And ChooksChicks: what type of chicken is that?

That's Gilligan, my Silver Laced Polish pullet. She's got the lovely coloring now, but was very mottled in the beginning. She had weak legs and was anorexic, so she ate baby parrot food from a syringe for a few weeks- it did the trick!

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
If you remember, they said the Titanic was unsinkable, too.

People will tell you all sorts of things, and some even what you want to hear. You filter and select that which you like and bin the rest - it's how we do things often enough. The Truth is either undesirable or too boring to catch our attention.

Chances are good your old lab won't get too excited about the chooks. However, the other may. Or maybe both will. You cannot be certain.
But considering that this is uncharted territory and what is at risk, i.e., dead chickens and dogs-turned-chook killers, you gotta ask yourself if you want to stake it all on what others have to say.

Look at it this way: Thrusting a new, heretofore unknown creature like a chicken in front of dogs, with their enticing movements and smells, is like adding candy to a kids party... they may not notice, what with all the other things going on around them. But if they do, you better be ready to step in.

Simple Rule of Thumb here: Dont turn your back on The Dog... ever. And have a back up plan.

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

We have a shepherd mix and a cattle dog. We NEVER let them in with the chickens. They both fly to the run to check out the chickens behind the fencing. After a couple of seconds the shepherd moves on, but the cattle dog will pace around the fencing. Neither try and get to the chickens, but I bet if we opened the gate they would chase and catch all the chickens. We are never going to let them meet without fencing between both.

 

[ChickenSmitten]

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisast3#play/uploads/2/uYZDvSEw3hI

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisast3#play/uploads/0/ZEvwwzrFXuk

you tubes of our dogg after acclimating to the chickens.
She is never alone with them though...